Improvement in tobacco-presses



Unirse @rares Farrar Ormes@ TIIOS. G. HARDESTY, OF TRAOYS LANDING, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOBACCO-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 12,11 1l 3. dated May '29, 1841.

To all whom if; may concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs G. I-IARDns'rY, of Tracys Landing, in the county of Anne Arundel, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus or Press for'Pressing Tobacco Into Hogsheads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

In my improved tobacco-press the hogshead into which the tobacco is to be pressed has both heads removed, and it is placed horizontally upon the frame of the press, resting upon two longitudinal pieces of timber, near the ground, prepared to receive it; and two false hogsheads or receiving-cylinders, the same in diameter, or nearly so, with the hogshead, are placed upon the same longitudinal pieces in a line with it, said hogshead being situated between them. The hogshead and the two false hogsheads are to be filled with tobacco by hand, and may be made to contain the whole quantity that is required to be packed in the hogshead. Vhen thus prepared, pressure is to be made at each end of the apparatus by means of two screws, which force up two followers, said followers entering and passing through the false hogsheads and forcing all the tobacco which had been placed in them for that purpose into the hogshead situated between them. lIlhe false hogsheads are so constructed as to admit of their being removed from the press without its being necessary to retract the pressing-screws, and this I effect by uniting the staves which constitute the false hogsheads to bands or hoops of iron, which are clasped together at their ends, and when unclasped are to spring open sufficiently far toadmit of the escapeof the false hogsheads over the shaft of the screw. The same end may be attained by making one of the staves of each of the false hogsheads removable, and aliixing it in place, when in use for packing, by means of loops and wedges ooniining it to the iron bands or hoops of the false hogsheads.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective representation of my press, with the hogshead that is to be packed and one of the false hogsheads placed upon its lower longitudinal pieces or sills; and Fig. 2 is one of the false hogsheads removed from the press and sprung open.

A is the hogshead to be packed, and B B are the false hogsheads.

C O arethe lower longitudinal pieces or sills of tlie press.

D D are the upper longitudinal pieces,which are firmly connected to the two iron end or head pieces, E F, of the press. One or both of the pieces D D is to be made removable, to admit of the rolling` of the hogshead and false hogsheads onto and off from the sills G C.

F F are two screws, which turn in boxes G, said screw-boxes being firmly attached to the power-wheels II II, and swiveling, by means of collars, in the iron head-pieces E E. Each of these screws carries a follower, I, on its inner end, and the screws must be of such length as to carry the followers entirely through the false hogsheads, and cause them to enter the ends ofv the hogshead A and Ato occupy the place which is to receive the heads. v

The false hogshead, Fig. 2, is shown as sprung open.

a a' are staples or eyes, which receive ythe catches b b on the ends of the hoops orbandsJ J. Vhen sprung open, thefalse hogsheads may be readily removed, while the followers I are within the hogshead A; and the same may be effected, as before remarked, by making one of the staves of I3 Il removable, and providing it with iron straps7 by which it can be keyed onto the bands J J. y

XVhen this press is to be used, the two screws are to be turned back, so that the followers I will be in contact with the head-pieces E E.

The hogshead and the false hogsheads, filled with tobacco by hand, are then to be placed in a range on the sills G C. The followers are now to be brought up to press upon it at both ends. In doing this the screws may at rst be turned by means of a winch on their outer ends until the resistance is too great for this modi@J of proceeding. The power-wheels HH may then be turned by means of the rounds or handles c c c, by which means all the requisite force maybe obtained and applied. Vhen the pressure has been thus completed and the false hogsheads have been removed, the followers are to be so far withdrawn as to allow of the insertion of the heads between them and the tobacco. The heads are then to be forced up and secured in place.

It will be manifest that other means may be adopted of forcing up the followers, and that the screws F F may be dispensed with, while the false hogshead and the general arrangement in other respects may remain substantially as described. Thus, for example, racks and pinions may take the place of the screws and boxes, and the required power be thus applied. Although I prefer the screws, believing them to be the best arrangement, Ido not intend, therefore, to limit or confine myself to their use,l but to employ racks and pinions or other known means of forcing up the followers.

Having thus fully described the nature of my press for pressing tobacco into hogsheads and shown .how the same operates, what l claim 

